Star Trek: Eternity: Sunset
by Alex Martin
Summary: First fiction based on the uss Eternity set in the 28th century
1. Beginnings

STAR TREK: ETERNITY  
  
Sunset  
  
Introduction: A Brief overview of major events from 2568 to 2770  
  
In 2568 the Romulan Empire launched an unprovoked attack against Cardassian civilians in the D'meris sector. As a result the Cardassian Union declared war on the Romulans. The Federation, though sympathetic with the Cardassians chose to stay out of the conflict. In the resulting years that followed, the war reached a head when a new Romulan weapon decimated Cardassia Prime leaving it uninhabitable. It was at this point that the Federation intervened, bringing the full force of Starfleet against Romulus. Weakened by the frequent Cardassian attacks, The Romulan Empire soon surrendered. The Cardassian Empire in the post- war years was thrown into a state of turmoil; its home world was destroyed, its fleets of warships obliterated. Stung by Starfleet's isolation during early war years, the Cardassian union nevertheless joined the Federation and many other worlds in forming the Democratic Confederation, an extension of the united federation of Planets in 2586. This new alliance was strengthened and in the two hundred years that followed became the largest peaceful union in the Galaxy. The Romulan Empire has been under the watchful eye of The Confederation since the war on Cardassia but has not engaged in any hostile activities since.  
  
By the twenty eighth century the Confederation was a founded union, the Cardassians and Starfleet involved in the strongest bond of friendship ever known between the two worlds. In celebration of this, Starfleet began to build a brand new design of Starship, one that would outmatch any other built. Eternity Project began and after twenty years of development the vessel is built. The year is 2770.  
  
Chapter 1  
  
Commander Johnson stepped off the shuttle, walked through the docking port and onto the metal deck plating of construction bay twelve, floor six. In comparison with other construction bays he had been to the area seemed cold- the walls all the same shade of grey, no consoles donned the walls. Of course construction bay twelve had been built some seven years ago to accommodate the Eternity construction; all work had been poured into the project and not the area surrounding it. He reached to his face with his hand and scratched at the lining of bristles that seemed to have appeared on his jaw overnight. He'd shaved hadn't he? No, he'd been too busy inspecting the weapons schematics- ready for a surprise test by his new captain. Johnson had stayed up overnight in preparation with his meeting with the captain. Captain mark Anderson had been his friend for some years, but he knew how authorative he could be when on duty and also how much he enjoyed testing his new officers. He felt a mess and he didn't like that. Normally he'd be ready and prepared, his medium length brown hair combed into some kind of order, his uniform straightened and he certainly wouldn't have had the big black bags under his eyes that seemed to clash so badly with the green of his irises. "Captain on the deck!" A young ensign sounded. Andrew straightened as the Captain walked toward him. "Commander," he said as he looked his new tactical officer up and down "good to see you made the.effort." He managed a small grin before a larger smile dawned on his face. "It's good to see you, commander." "You too, sir. How long has it been?" The pair walked side by side, the captain with his hands behind his back, the commander attempting to straighten the cuffs of his uniform. "I'm not sure but I know that it has been far too long." They stepped into the turbolift. "Floor one, observation," the captain called to the computer. The pair stood in silence for a few moments, both staring at the turbolift doors. It was Captain Anderson who broke the silence. "Torpedo statistics, commander," he said, his face still staring at the doors. Johnson had been ready for this. He may look a mess, but he was damned if he was going to muck up a torpedo analysis. "Standard complements of torpedoes are as follows, sir: ninety- seven Photon torpedoes type ten infused with eight micrograms fusion torpedo element, fifty quantum torpedoes type five and thirty First- class Fusion Torpedoes for use in emergency situations only, sir." The captains lips turned up slightly indicating what, for captain Anderson would be an impressed look. "Or for whenever I give you the order to fire them, commander." " Of course, sir."  
  
The turbolift doors parted and the pair stepped forward into the massive capsule that was the observation lounge. "My God!" Andrew said as he looked through the massive windows at the sight of his new posting. Through the windows he could see the top view of the massive monument of the Eternity's saucer section, comparable to an arrowheads shape and seen by many as a celebration to the late twenty fourth century designs such as the intrepid class and Prometheus class Starships. The metal shone off the lighting strips overhead and the vessel bore its name in letters several times the size of the commander. The registry stood over the name: NCC 120024. Just visible over the Saucer was the main hull with the grand nacelles protruding upwards from sleek arms, the blue glow of the warp drive shining in the black of space. "Incredible!" The captain paced the deck. "If you like the view, you'll love the rest of the ship. This is the first ship to feature then new Geodyne warp plasma. And with the modified warp field we can accelerate past the barrier of warp ten into what engineers have called 'temporal warp.'" Commander Johnson managed to pry his eyes away for a few seconds to look at the captain. "Temporal warp, sir?" "Surely you've done your homework on the rest of the ship, commander?" Said the captain. "Well, I glazed over the other systems, but it was the weapons that really captured my mind." For a few moments the captain gave him a look of almost disbelief. "Should I be letting you loose on a ship you know nothing about?" "I know what I need to, sir," the commander replied. "Well I certainly hope so! You attended Starfleet academy, and you've served aboard three Starships since then. I guess I can excuse you if you don't know engineering inside out. But you will learn about every circuit on that ship. Now, the temporal warp," Anderson sat in a chair that was present, "Is a new innovation. The Eternity can accelerate so fast that it's top speed is comparable to a warp factor of 19." He paused to look at the commander's surprised face. "In the manual it said the top speed was warp 11. Have I missed something?" "About three upgraded engineering manuals! I'm beginning to wonder about you, Andrew. The effect of this acceleration is that the ship enters what is like a conduit. For anyone monitoring the ship on sensors outside our warp field it appears that we're travelling faster than time could possibly allow, hence the temporal warp." Andrew gave several nods that showed he was impressed. The captain stood up again. "Now then commander I think it's time for you to see the rest of the ship.and to pay a visit to our chief engineer for a tutorial!" 


	2. getting to know you

Chapter 2  
  
The two senior officers stepped off the transporter pad and advanced through the doors into the adjacent corridor. Johnson stared around at the area, at the ships grey- blue walls, the overhead lighting set just above his head, and at the deep red carpeting that donned the passageway. "Twenty three decks, computer systems augmented through the crystalline power matrix. Three shuttlecraft tucked away out back," commander Johnson recited. "Very good, commander. You're beginning to redeem yourself!" the captain and commander stepped into a nearby turbolift and proceeded to engineering. A computerised voice signalled they had arrived. "Deck twelve, Main engineering. Proceed."  
  
The Warp core shone out above all else in the room. It was a massive column of light that stretched all the way up to the third floor. The cores design is extremely streamlined for its function but what it lacks in size it makes up for in power. Hexagon- like shapes of light moved around inside the core; the Geodyne-pressurised warp reaction creating a magnificent light show. At the very bottom of the core lay a man dressed in his engineering uniform. He was playing around with a piece of technology that was inserted into the casing of the core. He was muttering something to himself, or perhaps to whomever it was that was close enough to listen. "Damn Nanite infuser! Starfleet assured me this thing would work properly! Its not enough that they insert these things into my key systems, now Starfleet wants me to perform maintenance on them!" He clearly did not notice the captain and tactical officer approach. Anderson leaned down on one knee and peered into the casing. "Is there a problem, lieutenant?" Richards, surprised by the captain's presence, shot up and banged his head against the top of the open panel. "Aargh! No, captain. I mean Yes- Sorry, sir, I'm.I didn't see you come in!" Anderson helped the lieutenant to his feet before introductions began. "Commander Johnson, this is lieutenant mark Richards chief of engineering, lieutenant, this is commander Andrew Johnson. He'll be making use of those weapons you look after." The pair shook hands and said their hellos. "What was the problem?" Said commander Johnson. "It's this new experiment Starfleet has deemed the Eternity ready to test: Nanite- infused systems." Johnson wore a puzzled look on his face. "Nanites?" This time the captain broke into the conversation. "Nanites are a new microscopic engineering aid. In extreme situations when engineers are required to focus on singular systems, the Nanite machines are released through a series of infusers into damaged primary systems and fix them." "I wouldn't mind having the technology if it worked properly, but this is the third Nanite infuser I've had to fix today," Richards stared glumly at the tool he held in his hand. "We'd best leave you to it then, lieutenant," said the Captain. "I want every system running at full capacity by the time we leave in eight hours." Richards sighed in his mind. There was one thing about captains that never changed, whoever they were: They always asked the impossible of the engineers. However the lieutenant had learned through looking at the work of past engineers and present that it was strangely possible make impossible tasks.well, possible.  
  
"Captain on the bridge!" A man stationed at the Operations position yelled. Immediately all personnel stood to attention. "At ease. Prompt as ever, lieutenant," the captain said to the ops officer, before he leaned toward Johnson. "Lieutenant Casey. He's a little over- excited at the prospect of leaving soon. I'll leave you to familiarise yourself with the ship and crew. Your stations on the left, though I'm sure you knew that already. Good day, commander." Captain Anderson left Andrew to take in the view.  
  
The Bridge was larger than he had expected. They always were. At the front of the bridge towered the viewscreen, at present focussed on earth. Just a little beyond was helm control, its control- interfaces the Starfleet standard since 2750: differing shades of blue with the occasional button tinted green or white. The chair was a shade of dark green. Johnson found this strange even on the schematics, as all other chairs on the bridge were a darker blue- grey. Perhaps it was the symbol of the responsibility that helm control embodied. Then again, being placed in control of weapons of mass destruction was itself a pretty weighty responsibility. The Captains chair was situated at the centre of the room with a First Officers chair beside it on the left. A silver rail separated the back of the bridge to the rest of it bar two sets of steps that led up to it. Dead centre of this back- wall was the schematic cut away of the ship. When you looked at this it really began to dawn on you how large a project the Eternity was. Beside it on the far left was his station and on the right, Ops. Two doors on either side of the bridge led to the Captains ready room and the Conference room. Another door next to Ops led back to the turbolift he had just left. The lieutenant was still there. Johnson decided to introduce himself. "Lieutenant Casey? I'm commander Johnson. I'm the chief tactical officer. Nice to meet you." Casey reciprocated Andrews' gesture by holding out his own hand to the commanders. "Nice to meet you too, sir. My first official bridge posting, sir. I'm in charge of Ops. I'm very excited." I'd never have guessed, thought Johnson. "I'd best get back to my work, sir. Perhaps we can talk later, in the Canteen, or at Jexals?" Ah yes, Jexals. He'd heard about that. The ships very own restaurant, entertainment facility and general fun- place to be on the ship. "That'd be good. I'll see you later." Looking around, Johnson tried to pinpoint anyone else he could talk with. All the people seemed busy. He glanced briefly at his own console, which was manned by someone. However itching he was to get to know his workspace, he really needed to get to his quarters and clean up before their departure. There'd be plenty of time for weapons banks later, - after a shave. 


End file.
